Whenever the season of fall begins to peek through, I get a craving for doing some freezer cooking. These past mornings have been a little on the chilly side, and our skin breaks out in goose flesh as we wait for the bus in sweatshirts hastily thrown over t-shirts and shorts (the weather still warms back up during the day).
Fall is a wonderful time to do some freezer cooking. You start looking forward to turning on that oven, you have a sense of gathering your nuts (stocking the freezer) before winter, and there are all sorts of great produce and other foods in season. Here are some of my favorite things to make in the fall to stock our freezer.
Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie. Made the chicken (or turkey) pot pie out of the leftovers from a Sunday dinner. A roast chicken or turkey is perfect for fall cooking, and I can often squeeze enough meat off of the bones to make two or three nice sized pot pies to throw in the freezer. Don’t forget to make stock from the bones and freeze that as well.
Thanksgiving Meatloaf. This is a meal that freezes well and can be easily portioned for however many people need to eat. I usually make two to four loaves at a time, using ground turkey, stuffing mix, etc. Slice the loaf before freezing, so you can easily pull out the required number of slices.
Meatballs. Make up a large batch of meatballs (I like ground turkey), season them well and flash freeze them before dumping them in couple of large freezer bags. For a quick meal, just add them to some sauce in a saucepan while the pasta is boiling, or use them for meatball hoagies at fall football games!
Happy freezing!
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
Incorporating Freezer Cooking into Your Life
Making Your Freezer and Crock Pot Work Together